The family of a man shot by a Carson sheriff’s deputy last month has filed a federal lawsuit against the department and the deputies involved.

The plaintiffs allege that Ezequiel Jacobo, 33, was shot while trying to flee. They also claim that the deputies did not allow paramedics to attempt to resuscitate Jacobo.

Although Jacobo was unarmed, sheriff’s officials have said he was shot after grabbing for the deputy’s gun.

The department is still investigating the shooting, which took place at the Scottsdale Estates housing complex on Aug. 8. Last week, Sheriff Lee Baca ordered that such investigations be completed within 90 days when the victim is unarmed. In other circumstances, the investigation might take a year or more.

That order came after a deputy shot and killed Darrick Collins, 36, in the Athens area on Sept. 14. In that case, deputies were pursuing a robbery suspect. Officials said the deputy who fired believed that Collins was reaching for a gun in his waistband, but Collins was later found to be unarmed.

It was also determined that he was not the robbery suspect.

In keeping with department policy, officials have not revealed the names of the deputies involved in either shooting.

Witnesses to the Carson shooting identified the deputy from his name tag as M. Taylor. His partner, a female officer, was identified as A. Hernandez.

Sheriff’s officials have said that Taylor was involved in another shooting earlier this year in which no one was hit.

In that shooting, on March 4, two deputies chased a car until it crashed at 236th Street and Catskill Avenue. As the passenger, Christopher Morales, 23, got out out of the car, he fell and dropped a handgun, according to sheriff’s reports.

He picked up the gun and pointed it at the deputies, causing both deputies to fire, according to the reports.

Morales was not hit, and fled with the other two occupants of the car. He was later arrested after a police dog bit him.

His gun was not found.

Though Morales was arrested on suspicion of assault on a police officer, the District Attorney’s Office in Compton declined to prosecute that charge due to lack of evidence.

Instead, Morales was charged with failing to register as a sex offender when he changed addresses. He ultimately pleaded no contest and was sentenced to four years in state prison.

The use of force in the Morales case is still being investigated by the Sheriff’s Department.

Like Jacobo, Morales is alleged to be a member of the Catskill Street Gang.

There has been increased tension between the gang and the Carson sheriff’s station since the Jacobo shooting.

On Aug. 31, deputies searched the Jacobo family home in an effort to find weapons or other evidence tied to the Catskill Street Gang.

Deputies alleged that during a rosary for Jacobo, his brother, Cesar Jacobo, made criminal threats on Taylor and Hernandez.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Cesar Jacobo is alleged to have told deputies that, “I want to take their badges to the desert, shoot a hole in the center, and then hang them on my wall. If I cannot get their badges, then I will take the deputies to the desert and put a hole in their heads. This is the only way I will be at peace for my brother’s murder.”

On the strength of that allegation, Jacobo has been charged with two counts of making criminal threats.

However, his attorney, Brian Claypool, said that the quote is significantly embellished.

Jacobo acknowledges saying that he wanted to get the deputies’ badges and bring them back to the Las Vegas area, where he lived until recently.

But he never said he wanted to shoot a hole in the badges, and never said he wanted to shoot the deputies, Claypool said. The deputies may have been conflating the statement about the badges with an earlier discussion of visiting a firing range, he said.

“He wants to see them convicted of a crime of a homicide against his brother,” Claypool said. “He literally wants their badge to show he got justice in this process.”

The search did not turn up any weapons, photos, or other evidence against Jacobo. According to search warrant documents, no evidence was taken from the Jacobo home.

“They’re trying to take the attention away from what truly was a terrible shooting,” Claypool said. “It was a cold deliberate and calculated shooting by Taylor.”

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